1. Administering K-2 WESTELL Spring 2006
Introduce the training session. Introduce trainers and distribute materials:
Administration Manual
Teacher Support Materials (Kindergarten)
Teacher Support Materials (Grades 1-2)
Student Test Booklet
Other Materials as appropriate
Paper by Dina Castro
NAEYC Paper
[Some of these materials are secure and should be collected at the end of training.]

2. Overview Purpose and Nature of WESTELL K-2
Language Acquisition in Young Children
What You Will Need
Administration Tips
Present the purpose and nature of the WESTELL (ELDA) K-2 inventories and briefly introduce the topics that will be covered during this training session:
Note that you will address each of these four topics in some detail, ending with specific tips on how to administer the inventories.

3. Purpose and Nature of WESTELL K-2
Determine Level of Language Acquisition
Separate Inventories for K and 1-2
Observation of Student Behaviors
Typical Behavior Over Time
Focus on Four Aspects of Language
The English Language Development Assessments are designed to provide information about the English language development achievements of students in grades K-12. For grades 3-12, these skills are assessed through multiple-choice and open-ended test items. For students in grades K-2, these skills are assessed with informal inventories. There is one set of inventories for kindergartners and one set for students in grades There are many similarities, but there are important differences as well. Make sure you address both before the end of the session.
The inventories focus on what students do in the classroom, cafeteria, playground, and other settings. They include observation in social as well as in academic settings.
The most important point about making and recording these observations is that they are to be done over a period of time. None of the inventory entries should be based on a single observation. Each entry will represent a significant amount of time. To make the overall observation task easier, we have shortened the inventories and provided support materials. With a little planning, it is also possible to observe several students at the same time
The four inventories are Reading, Listening, Writing, and Speaking.

4. Contents Reading (14 Entries) Listening (7 Entries)
Writing (9 Entries)
Speaking (8 Entries)
The Reading inventory (for K and for 1-2) has 14 entries. They range from prereading activities (e.g., letter recognition) to fairly complex reading activities calling for conclusions and generalizations. Both reading inventories have accompanying Teacher Support Materials. We will address those in a few moments.
The Listening inventory has 7 entries, again ranging from simple, one-step instructions to complex stories and conversations requiring the student to draw conclusions or make generalizations.
The Writing inventory has 9 entries ranging from pre-writing skills and drawing activities to writing sentences with correct spelling.
The Speaking inventory has 8 entries ranging from simple questions in familiar settings to offering complex defenses or explanations of thoughts with complex sentences in English.
All inventory entries are based on a set of K-2 content standards shared by the ELDA consortium states. They are included in Appendix B in the back of the Administration Manual.

5. Score Points No Evidence of Mastery (0)
Minimal Evidence; With Much Support (1)
Moderate Evidence; With/Without Support (2)
Clear Evidence; Independence (3)
Each inventory entry is scored on a 3-point scale. While each score point for each entry is defined in the inventory and further clarified in the Administration Manual, in general, the scores have the following meanings:
0 - No evidence of mastery. Give this score when, after two or more observations, the student is unable to respond at score point 1.
1 - There is beginning evidence of awareness of the skill, but the student requires a great deal of support or prompting to show it.
2. With less support, the student is able to demonstrate the fundamental aspects of the skill.
3. With little or no prompting or support, the student is able to demonstrate substantial progress or mastery of this skill in a grade-appropriate context.

6. Performance Levels Pre-Functional (1) Beginner (2) Intermediate (3)
Advanced (4)
Fully English Proficient (5)
Not To Be Confused With Score Points
Students are ultimately assigned to one of five performance levels:
1 - Pre-Functional
2 - Beginner
3 - Intermediate
4 - Advanced
5 - Fully English Proficient (FEP)
These levels are spelled out, by content area, in Appendix A of the Administration Manual.
It is important to note that the individual inventory entry scores and the Proficiency Levels do not mean the same thing. A student who is at Level 5 would probably get a 3 on most entries, but not necessarily on all. Similarly, a student who is not at Level 5 may do very well on some entries and earn scores of 3 on them.
You will be asked to rate each student on this 1-5 scale, independent of the inventories. Your ratings will be used to validate inventory entries in a research study. You should base your global ratings on your ongoing classroom observations of the students, not the total numbers of points they earn on the inventories. [Additional information regarding local or state practices and rules]

7. Language Acquisition in Young Children
Productive
Phase
Formulaic
Speech
Telegraphic
Speech
Let’s change gears for a moment and think about the children you are assessing. The Administration Manual contains on pages 4-7 a description of how young children acquire a new language. I would like to offer a quick summary of that part of the manual here.
Children start with whatever language they speak at home and interact with you and with other children the best way they can.
After a while, they become aware that their speech is different and will try to learn what they can by listening to others. During this period, they may not say or write much or anything. This is the silent period. Learning is taking place, but you may not see much evidence.
Children then advance to telegraphic speech - one- or two-word utterances to convey basic needs (e.g., bathroom, book, have pencil).
The next stage is formulaic speech, the use of stock phrases that serve a somewhat wider range of purposes than telegraphic speech. With enough stock phrases, children can appear to be quite proficient.
The final phase is the productive phase. At this point, language takes on proper grammatical and syntactical dimensions (appropriate to the age and grade level of the student).
Silent
Period
Home
Language

8. What You Will Need ELDA K-2 Student Test Booklet Kindergarten
Spring 2006
ELDA K-2 Student Test Booklet
Grades 1-2
Spring 2006
ELDA K-2 Teacher Support Materials
Spring 2006
ELDA K-2 Test Administration Manual
Spring 2006
Now, let’s get down to practical application.
To administer the inventories, you will need the Test Administration Manual (show), Teacher Support Materials for Kindergarten (show), Teacher Support Materials for Grades 1-2 (show), the Student Test Booklet (show) and a tape recorder to record students’ responses to the Speaking test (linking items, for
grades 1-2 only). You will need to take some time before you administer the first inventory to become familiar with each.
The Student Test Booklet for grades 1-2 includes linking items that connect the inventories to the tests for grades We have included these items to allow us to connect the inventories to the tests for grades That way, we will be able to calculate scores for students in grades K-2 that are on the same scale as those for students in grades 3-5 and beyond. Being able to do that will allow us to track students’ performances over time, or at least from one grade span (e.g., K-2) to another (e.g., 3-5). Please make sure you follow the scripts and directions exactly as they are printed in the Administration Manual so we can score them as if they were administered under the original conditions. Remember: These are only for students in grades They are intentionally left out of the kindergarten booklet.

9. Administration Tips Read Quick Start Guide Define Terms
Review Both Inventories
Review Teacher Support Materials
Review Linking Items
Look on page 4 of the Test Administration Manual. This is the Quick Start Guide. This is the Reader’s Digest version of the manual. In these four pages, you will get the distilled essence of the manual. It’s a great place to start, but please don’t stop there. Think of this as the organizer that gives you a place to hang all the other stuff you will read in this manual and the other materials.
After you read the Quick Start Guide, we will need to discuss some terms that you will apply over and over. We will get to those momentarily.
Next, look over both inventories and the Teacher Support Materials for Kindergarten and for Grades 1-2.
Finally, look over the rest of the the Test Booklet for Grades That booklet contains linking items that students in grades 1-2 will need to answer so that we can link performances on the K-2 inventories with performances of students in grades 3-12 on their tests. This information will be used for NCLB reporting purposes (NCLB requires that student performances be reported on a common scale).

10. Quick Start Guide - 1
Here’s an example of how to complete a single row or entry in the Listening inventory. The others follow the same format.
First, you will see that this inventory entry refers to a specific content standard (included in Appendix B of the manual). Score points 1, 2, and 3 are defined. In the final column of this row, there are four score points (0-3). In this example, the teacher has given the student a 2, indicating that the student was generally able to follow 2-3 step directions (given in English) but could not successfully follow more complicated directions. Sometimes this student required visual support, but sometimes, he or she was able to follow directions without support.
Note that the number 2 has been entered on the line at the far right of the row. That is the student’s score for this entry.

11. Quick Start Guide - 2
Here’s another entry (the last one in the inventory). The student has also received a score of 2 for this skill. This student could draw conclusions based on simple stories or conversations but not for longer or more complex stories or conversations. For this skill, level of teacher support is not nearly as important as the complexity of the content to which the student was listening.
You will also see the number 12 at the very bottom. The teacher has completed all 7 entries of the Listening inventory and added up all the scores. For this student, that total came to 12. Check your addition before you turn in your inventories.
Because it refers to short and long stories or conversations, this entry highlights one of the issues that you will need to reach some conclusions about before starting. Note that we have not defined long vs. short stories and conversations. We leave this matter up to states and districts. The key to good assessment is to settle on a definition before beginning and then to stay with that definition, applying it consistently throughout your observations.

12. Define Terms Short, Medium, Long Level of Teacher Support
Grade Appropriate
This brings us to some other terms that will need the same type of consideration:
Short, medium, and long passages and conversations. This will come up in Reading and Listening. Consider what is appropriate for kindergartners and for students in grades 1-2 (not necessarily the same). Write down the definitions, and then stick to them.
Level of teacher support. This applies to all four inventories. Each state or district may have rules or guidelines defining levels of teacher support for English language learners. It will be best to apply those guidelines, discuss them with others who will be administering these inventories, and keep a copy of the written guidelines handy. As with passage length, the key is consistent application of the guidelines.
Grade appropriate. This applies to all four inventories. Grades 1-2 will certainly be different from kindergarten, and standards in your state or district will certainly differ from others. Make sure you have a clear understanding of what your state or district considers grade appropriate before proceeding.

13. Review Both Inventories
Note Similarities
Note Differences
Plan Ahead
Before administering any inventories, make sure you take a good look at both. The two Listening inventories are virtually identical. The other three have many similarities. There are four charts in Appendix B of the Administration Manual (pages 41-45) showing similarities and differences between the kindergarten and grade 1-2 inventories. You may find this information helpful.
The key to successful administration, after you have looked over all these materials, is to plan ahead. Get a good idea how much time you think each observation will take, which support materials you will need, what additional materials you will need, and which aspects of the assessments will require additional clarification.

14. Review Teacher Support Materials
Sample
Here is an example of one of the support materials for Reading. The most important point about the Teacher Support Materials is that these are provided as suggestions for things you might use to elicit appropriate responses from your students. They are not prescribed or required. If you have your own materials, particularly at grades 1 and 2 (e.g., graded reading materials), by all means, use those if you and your students are more familiar with them. The goal of the support materials is to make the inventory entries more convenient. If you have other materials that meet this goal, use them.
Suggestions, Not Prescriptions
Feel Free to Use Your Own Materials

15. Review Linking Items For Grades 1-2 Only Easy Grade 3 Items
Used to Link to 3-12
Note Materials You Will Need
Note Procedures and Scripts
The linking items are at the beginning of the Test Booklet for Grades Directions for administering them are on pages of the Test Administration Manual. Read these sections over and make sure you have the materials you need. Note that for the Speaking portion of the test, you will need to test students one at a time or in small groups in order to score them accurately. Scoring guides are supplied with the Speaking test. Enter those scores in the spaces indicated before sending your test materials to the building or district testing coordinator.

16. Final Comments Everyday, Naturalistic Settings
Multiple Methods and Measures
Verbal and non-verbal procedures
Occur across diverse aspects of curriculum
Involve a range of activities
Assessments Involve Multiple People
Age Appropriate
Authentic assessments are monitored over time and can include portfolios, teacher ratings, observations, and interviews
Multiple methods and measures
Purely verbal measures can underestimate children’s cognitive ability
Assessments should include both verbal and non-verbal procedures
Give students opportunities to show what they know
Use various settings (classroom, playground) and interactions with peers, familiar adults
Multiple people
There is always room for error and bias in assessment process; that’s why opinions of two or more people can be helpful.
It is important to triangulate information or verify it by getting information from a number of people.
Age appropriate
You should not use an assessment for ELL students that is designed for children of ages different than the children being assessed.